The present invention relates to a liquid dispenser for a sink and, more particularly, to a liquid dispenser which permits use of conventional containers of soap or hand lotion.
Many current sinks in households and commercial establishments include a removable plug adjacent to the sink bowl which is designed to accept a spray head or soap dispenser assembly. Dispensing assemblies are readily available for mounting to the sink. As shown in FIG. 1, these conventional dispensers include a pump assembly 2 that is attached to the sink S. The pump assembly 2 includes a dispenser nozzle 4 and an actuation mechanism 5, such as a translatable pump head. The pump assembly 2 also includes a pick-up tube 6 which is attached to the actuation mechanism 5 and extends underneath the sink into a dispenser bottle 7. The dispenser bottle 7 is attached to the lower end of a mounting fixture 8 and hangs directly from the sink S.
There are basically two ways to fill conventional dispenser bottles. One type of dispensing assembly is designed to permit the pump assembly to be removed from the mounting fixture. The soap or lotion is poured directly into dispenser bottle through an opening in the mounting fixture. The pump head is then replaced and actuated to cause soap to be dispensed from the pumping assembly.
In the second type of dispensing assembly, the pump assembly is fixedly attached to the mounting fixture and the dispenser bottle is threaded to the mounting fixture. As such, in order to fill the bottle, the bottle must first be unscrewed from the fixture.
One of the problems with the second type of dispensing assembly is that refilling the bottle requires reaching under the sink to locate the dispenser bottle and unscrewing it from the mounting assembly. Since soap dispensers are typically at the rear of the sink, the dispenser bottles are usually located in the very far recesses of the cabinet underneath the sink and can be difficult to remove and replace.
Also, with both types of dispensing assemblies, it is not possible to view the dispenser bottle. As such, the user does not know whether or not the bottle is empty until soap can no longer be dispensed from the dispenser assembly. This can be a particular problem in commercial establishments, such as restaurants and public restrooms, where it is not convenient for the maintenance personnel to constantly access the facility to determine whether a bottle needs to be filled.
A need therefore exists for an improved liquid dispenser for mounting to a home or commercial sink which provides easy accessibility to the dispenser bottle for viewing and refilling.
The present invention is directed toward a liquid dispenser for a sink which includes a pump assembly with a reciprocatable pump head and a dispensing nozzle. A mounting fixture is adapted to be attached to a sink and configured to support the pump assembly so that the pump head reciprocates with respect to the mounting fixture. A fluid line is attached to the pump assembly and adapted to channel a fluid from a dispenser bottle to the dispensing nozzle. The fluid line has a length that permits the dispenser bottle to be located on the base of a cabinet under the sink. A check valve is positioned within the fluid line and adapted to inhibit fluid flow along the fluid line in a direction toward the dispenser bottle when the fluid line is attached to a dispenser bottle.
The present invention can also be used to modify an existing liquid dispenser on a sink to use a conventional soap container.
In one embodiment of the invention, a plurality of pump assemblies are mounted to a single mounting fixture for permitting the dispensing of multiple liquids (e.g., soap and lotion).
The foregoing and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent in light of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying figures.